A great Q&A question on Active Rain this morning lead to me blogging this. I think it's important to know I only show to pre-approved buyers, even my own listings on sign calls, they need to e-mail me their approval before I run over there. So, 95% of my tours are pre-scheduled & well organized. I do not typically tour on the fly.
I'm a huge fan of color coding and time blocking my calenders. It keeps me organized and the built in breaks keep me fresh & recharged throughout the day...less chance of overwhelm...if you are true to it!
Do you plan breaks in between showing homes? Yes I do!
I do for health, energy & sanity. But, not typically with the clients, I do so between the clients when they are all locals. Now, when they are flying in for the day (which happens a lot in San Diego) I do plan the breaks with them-in advanced so they know. I do this to be sure they understand the time frame contains breaks out of respect to any other plans they have and their due back at the airport time.
Otherwise the meals are for me in "the buffer zones", which I build in between each tour of homes. I do have some old school clients that offer to treat me, so I'll go with them if time permits. I only give my buyer 2.5 hours per tour and I build in buffer zones between for meals & COO office duties.
One example of how my Saturday can look:
9-11:30 am Tour 1
11:30-12:30 Lunch & Calls/E-mails returned.
12:30-3:00 pm Tour 2
3:00-3:30-Snack Break & Calls/E-mails returned.
3:30-6 pm Tour 3
6pm+ write any offers produced by tours and Docusign them to buyers.
Now with Relocation-buyers, I Block out 1/2 a day and up to a full day (9-5) and the schedule looks the same as above, but the buffer-breaks are with my clients and I don't make other calls nor e-mails unless there's a true urgent matter. No I may take shorter breaks with clients in tow, but I find they appreciate the breaks because they never realize how mushy your brain gets after 6-8 properties. Especially the larger properties.
So, typically my pre-set e-mail auto responder & phone greeting let people know I won't be replying until after my last appointment, which essentially is the "finish time" with that Relocation client. Then there's no pressure to ignore the incoming calls, because they know what time I'll be responding...or if it's a weekday my assistant fields all the incoming and they get immediate help while I'm busy.
Image courtesy of [Stuart Miles] at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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